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Metalverse Theory
Metalverse Inspirations Metalverse Lexicon Metalverse Rules Twins In The Metalverse What makes a great episode? From Morgan: Compiling the Wiki I've realised a few things about what makes a good 'metalverse' adventure, amongst them is that more interaction with the Gods or deities is the most fun. I've realised that I want to really demonstrate the awesome nature of the Gods a lot more- they usually just stand around and talk. It'll be nice to see them being more active and awe-inspiring. The more episodes I do the more I've learned about what works and what doesn't. I think I want 'more' to happen in each episode on Season 3. Or to put it in a better way- I think the strongest episodes were (in chronological order) Phobos, The Oneiori, Four Horsemen, Halloween Part 2, Hell Parts 1+2, Finale. The common thread I noticed to all of these episodes is that they're; a) primarily about the protagonist. b) have lots of revelations and story elements. c) lots of interactions with the Gods or a pantheon. Favourite Episodes - Conor My favourite episodes of Season 2 were: The Four Horsemen - Great fun riding with the bad guys, flirting with actually becoming one of the bad guys. Enemies that were fun to fight, fun to talk to as well. The 'power ups' of the Styx water were dizzying and exciting. Halloween Part 2 - This is a contender for my favourite episode ever really. Full of excitement at Fionn meeting the many gods, feeling a part of something large and eclectic. Great humour in the trials between Study Group and The Gods (this was the best episode for Study Group aside perhaps for Last Party Before Uncertain Doom's locked with Tommy the Dummy scene). Loved the mix of fun partying scenes and serious discussion like meetings with Hera (And the joke of Fionn bringing half of the universe's gods and scions up to his bedroom to talk) Parts of A Town Called Loneliness (The humour of playing a role within a role and the fun of unravelling a mystery that was mythic in meaning but noirish in execution) Hell Part 1& 2 - This is truly classic Metalverse. Very, very high on my list of favourite stuff. This was an episode that was all about Fionn, gave me opportunities to play up the character's strengths - such as charisma & flair for violence intertwined in a way that is as intoxicating as it is scary- and his weaknesses -a fairly disturbing bloody-mindedness- on a truly grand scale. As the player, it's really, really rewarding to have an episode that is all about your character. You're not a supporting character, you're not an observer, you're the engine. Not every single episode needs that, but I think episodes do seem to rock when they have it. A Very Krampus Christmas - I found this the funniest episode. It was even funnier than Halloween part 2. A bit of a theme emerges here too: I loved playing Fionn playing a role, and addressing Fionn's problems while acting as though he's dealing with other stuff. In A town called loneliness he acted like a noir detective but really figured out the conspiracy surrounding poor Melia. In this, he spoke to people about their feelings about Fionn and tried to mend damage he'd done, all while pretending to be Santa. I think the comedy hook of Fionn being concussed and occasionally forgetting he was supposed to be pretending to be Santa Claus was probably the funniest thing I have ever roleplayed. Dinner With The Erebuses -- I loved the atmosphere of this episode. There was a sense of potential high-stakes but a lot of the fun of the episode was the low-stakes. The pettiness of the dinner argument, the great vibe of pretending to be enemies with Apate while secretly Fionn and Apate were struggling to deal with their real feelings for each other. I think I'm a sucker for cool locations. I loved Castle Fronkenschteen, The Treehouse, The Mansion In Tartarus. Clearwater Vice - This started out as an episode I thought would be low on 'truth' and would be me having Fionn do stuff because we both out of character thought it was funny. (prank week's problems came from that, I/Fionn don't really dig pranks so it was difficult to get into the episode until we fully embraced the idea of pranks as a method to bring about wonder rather than embarrassment or even particularly humour) It started that way but went deeper and deeper and that initial suckerpunch got funnier and funnier, this episode ended up being all about the stuff Fionn was working on. I can't even begin to say how much I loved the relationship between Fionn and Simon Prince in this season, this episode was - I swear, I just got slightly verklempt writing the above. Continuing: this episode was a great step in defining their journey from antagonists to ambivalent allies to genuine friends. Last Party Before Uncertain Doom -- I love a party episode. I loved how the Squad felt realized enough by this point that I had a real sense of them at the party. Also loved having Study Group meet The Squad, as you said before, we should try integrating Study Group more into the general narrative. Loved the stuff with Apate and Fionn, there was all this layering, like: She got to meet Jenny Swanson, whom she masqueraded as the last time she attended a fancy dress party Fionn was at. That's complicated! No wonder she was upset comparing herself to her. That's really good character stuff. Loved the atmosphere of this episode, Fionn saying his goodbyes to people because he didn't know if he'd make it back, but trying -with varying degrees of success- to be subtle about it. The Tartarus War - I loved the many, many opportunities to affect the flow of the story. Fionn could make choices that would make it easier to get to the objective -such as leaving Freija and Ivan to their blaze of glory fate, freeing Fionn to go directly after Erebus- or he could take the long way around -help out Freija and Ivan- and bring everyone home alive. Fionn could prove everyone right about him by killing gods like a rabid dog -Momus, Nyx, perhaps most significantly Nemesis- or he could be true to his own moral compass - sparing Momus and Nyx and debating at length with Nemesis instead of just trying to kill her to make it easier to traverse her domain-. This episode was a great balance: It looked at the squad mates and the dynamics between them but it was also all about Fionn. Season 2 Weaker Points - Conor Episodes that didn't work quite so well: 2.13 Season 2 Episode 13 - Anansi We re-did this somewhat but I think this episode tipped too far towards Fionn being humiliated for the sake of it without it having any real meaning. When we re-did it it was a lot better but I think it was a worthwhile mistake to make just for what we learned from it: Some kinds of suffering for the character are fun, some kinds aren't really so much. 2.17 Season 2 Episode 17 - Prank Week This episode turned out pretty well but it initially suffered from that lack of truth thing, I couldn't quite see why Fionn would care about this prank stuff. Also, spent a lot of time as an observer here while npcs were doing stuff. 2.23 Season 2 Episode 23 - A Wedding In Asgard I actually like this episode but I think the matching of antagonists was a little off, as fun as an Errol Flynn- Basil Rathbone swordfight is, I think the fight felt unbalanced because it was Fionn vs a mortal. While that was fine at the beginning of the season (or really more Season 1) it was harder to get behind by this point. The sense of space and time in this episode were a little off, I was never sure how much time we had to do anything or where events were taking place in relation to other events. (Such as Cupid's execution, I wasn't sure when/where that was happening at all) If those are the only episodes that come to mind as weak, I think that's a pretty good haul. If I had to point out weaknesses generally in Season 2: Simon Prince was a favourite character of mine, but I probably felt like he was the real star of the show a little too often. Overall though, I wouldn't change much as I think the journey of Simon Prince and his friendship with Fionn made for some of the best moments in Season 2. Fionn probably shouldn't have topped out in terms of power three or four episodes from the end, that robbed the climax of some potentially great stuff. Related to this: Leveling up is fun, it's a part of the game, I think we both feel we want to do more of that in Season 3. I think if three episodes go by and there hasn't been a 'level-up', we may be falling behind the pace we prefer. We tend to go for character arcs and that means a player character changes more than they do in a lot of roleplaying games where it's designed around the concept of playing once or twice a week. I'm struggling to think of more detracting elements but I'm having a hard time, which is another sign of how great Season 2 was. Power Level Guidelines PL - Number, Metalverse Examples Superhero examples below each. PL1 - Regular ass folks. Steve. PL3 - Rank and file police officer PL 4-5 Moderately tough mortal, up to a soldier type PL 6 - Tough mortal. SWAT Team member PL 8-9 - Capable, badass mortal. Marv from Sin City. PL 10-11 - Peak level mortal or entry-level scion. Green Arrow, The Joker, Daredevil. PL 12-13 - Scion coming into their own. Batman, Iron Man, Captain America. PL 14-15 - Peak Scion, Entry-Level god Superman, Green Lantern, Professor X, Magneto PL 16 - Established god Peak Superman, Doctor Manhattan, Thor PL 17 - Powerful god, a potent figure even among the gods. Leviathan, Monkey PL 18 - Leader of a major Pantheon. Odin, Jupiter, Fionn Corvin Darkseid. PL 19 - Lucifer at his height of power PL 20 - Legendary power even among the gods. A Primordial? Galactus PL 21 - Ford Corvin PL 22-25 - Yahweh? (Other, greater Power Levels may be seen in times to come)